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Colorado Springs military spouses pampered at YMCA event

A $25 gift card to a steakhouse and a haircut might not seem like much.

But Fort Carson wife Deena Singleton felt like she won the lottery when she scored both for free at Military Spouse Appreciation Day, hosted at the Southeast YMCA this month.

The annual event honors the sacrifices of local military spouses by offering them a variety of freebies like roses, goody bags, spa services and desserts.

Singleton said her husband, a Fort Carson medic, wouldn't know what hit him when he returned from a field training exercise the next day to find her with a new hairstyle, waiting to take him to a free dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

"It's really nice to be pampered because military spouses go through a lot of hardships," Singleton said. "I think we take care of ourselves last. It's nice to honor us in this way."

The haircut - a luxury, given the family's single-income status - made her feel like a "new person," she said as she tousled her freshly trimmed strands.